Shloka 12
अन्नदानफलं (Anna-dāna-phala) / The Fruit of Food-Giving
तथा भाद्रपदे मासि हृषीकेशेति पूजयन् | सौत्रामणिमवाप्रोति पूतात्मा भवते च हि
tathā bhādrapade māsi hṛṣīkeśeti pūjayan | sautrāmaṇim avāpnoti pūtātmā bhavate ca hi ||
بھیشم نے کہا—اسی طرح بھادَرپَد کے مہینے میں جو شخص ‘ہریشیکیش’ کے نام سے پروردگار کی پوجا کرتا ہے، وہ سَوترامَنی یَجْیہ کا ثواب پاتا ہے؛ اور یقیناً اس کی روح پاکیزہ ہو جاتی ہے۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that devotional worship of the Lord under a specific divine name (here, Hṛṣīkeśa) at an auspicious time (Bhādrapada) yields the same purificatory merit associated with a respected Vedic rite (Sautrāmaṇi), emphasizing inner purification as the ethical fruit.
In his instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira within the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues a sequence of observances tied to months and divine epithets, stating that worship in Bhādrapada addressing the deity as ‘Hṛṣīkeśa’ grants Sautrāmaṇi-like merit and purifies the worshipper.